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Connecticut is seeking $344,000 from five women for the remediation of vapors emanating from a gas station site they inherited. Defective underground gas tanks contaminated the soil at the site and an adjoining property, but the state Underground Storage Tank Petroleum Clean-up Program provided a $483,000 reimbursement to the company running the station at the time. An amendment, however, prohibits claims by property owners from whom the state is seeking payment for remediation.

A Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment is necessary even for a property deemed low-risk, Jenny Redlin writes, because a long-time residential site may have once been home to a gas station, for example. Neighboring properties also could pose contamination threats, possibly via vapor intrusion, and thereby hurt property values, Redlin writes. "If you are a buyer and want to obtain protection from CERCLA liability, then yes you need a Phase 1, as this is the only way to obtain CERCLA liability protection and maintain your innocent landowner defense," she writes.

Gas station owners in Connecticut are voicing concern about the winding down of a state fund for underground storage tanks as $36 million has been allocated toward remediating an estimated $84 million in contamination. Most Connecticut station operators will have to buy private insurance after September. Although one insurer is exiting that market, more than a dozen other companies offer coverage, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

An apartment building owner in Rockland, Maine, will pay $10,000 over claims of improper removal of lead paint, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The man originally faced a $150,000 fine. The EPA said untrained workers used power equipment to remove lead paint from the building, and the lead dust may have affected residents and caused ground contamination.

The U.S. Coast Guard and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement have signed a formal deal that clarifies their roles in offshore oil spill preparation and response. "This agreement with the Coast Guard allows us to continue this close working relationship, strengthening our coordinated efforts to protect the environment and workers offshore," said Margaret Schneider, BSEE's deputy director.